The Golden Rum Barrel awards returned on Sunday (October 23rd), celebrating the brands and people that have made a significant contribution to the rum industry.

The London-based Awards, run by global rum ambassador Ian Burrell, followed the trade-only Boutique RumFest and RumFest, which celebrated its 10th birthday this year.

Joy Spence from Appleton rums picked up the award for Most Influential Rum Blender of the Last 10 Years, while ‎Distillery Ambassador Over the Past 10 Years was won by John Georges of Angostura Distillery.

Consumer's Favourite Rum went to Diplomatico of Venezuela, while Japan-based Nine Leaves rum took Boutique RumFest Brand of the Year. Best New Rum Brand in the UK 2016 was Foursquare’s 2006 Single Blended Rum

The prize for International Rum Brand Ambassador went to Alexx Mouzouris of Don Q, while George Frost of Duppy Share took the award for UK Rum Brand Ambassador of the Year. The gong for Rum Influencer of the Year went to Luca Gargano of Velier.

Among the rum bar awards were: Most Influential Rum Bar In The UK Over The Past 10 Years, which went to the London based Trailer Happiness, Rum Bar Team of the Year was awarded to Mahiki in London, while Rum Menu of the Year was won by Cubana of Sheffield.